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Hello tasty food – Hello Fresh Review

[I have not been compensated for this review. I just fancied doing it.]

I mentioned a while ago that I caved into the pressure of a door-to-door salesman touting a Hello Fresh subscription discount. I was that sucker. What’s the one thing they say? Never buy or sign up to someone knocking at your door.

But it did sound very good to me (I hear your thoughts: of course it would). I signed up to the three meals for two people. My discount took £20 off for two boxes and then I could cancel my subscription or continue on at £39 per box. Note how I say per box not per week. You can decide how often you want the box delivered – whether that’s once a week or once a month or whatever.

But what actually is it? Well, it’s a food and recipe delivery service. In each box I receive the ingredients for three meals and the three recipes to go with it. The only thing you need to have is oil/butter, salt and pepper. If the recipe calls for a tablespoon of cornflour then Hello Fresh have made sure to give you a tiny container with exactly that amount. Even teeny tiny bottles of soy sauce or sesame oil. Everything is provided for in the exact amount you need.

The meat is ethically reared, the vegetables are seasonal and fresh and the fish is coastal fresh, line-caught and free from any artificial preservatives. And so far all the ingredients have been in great condition and delicious.

Also, all the packaging and the box are recyclable and you can send back (for free) the cooling wool lining (used to wrap the meats and fridge products) back to Hello Fresh so they can recycle it there.

The meals are well balanced and the portions are brilliant – and considering this is me we’re talking about (the girl with a tiny T-rex inside her) this is something.

Every meal we’ve had so far I’ve enjoyed. There was one meal, a prawn and Serrano ham linguine, that I changed slightly for me (but kept the same for Ben) as I really don’t enjoy pasta. So I served it up with roasted sweet potato fries instead and it worked perfectly.

These aren’t super fast meals though. It takes me roughly 30-40 minutes to have it cooked and on the table (though the recipes are very clear and easy to follow).

Pork loin with leek mash and onion gravy

And the meals often require more pans than I’m used to, meaning lots more washing up. However, I love cooking. I find it a great way to de-stress from work and my long commute. I make sure I read the recipe at work so I know what I’m going to do and then when I get home I just get going. I know I already have everything at hand for the meal.

Pork loin with leek mash and onion gravy

I’m also learning how to cook better. I’ve never made onion gravy from scratch before or cooked certain cuts of meat so I feel like my culinary skills are broadening and my cooking CV expanding.

Things like the above photo: I’ve never beat down a chicken breast before to make it thinner and quicker to cook (we have since bought a rolling pin rather than using a tin of chickpeas…).

Pan-fried chicken and tarragon sauce

All the meals come with their nutritional information and are around 400-800 calories per meal. They’re very balanced in protein, carbs and fat and I’m always left satisfied.

Pan-fried tilapia with chorizo roasted potatoes

At the end of the week Hello Fresh ask for feedback for the meal and you can say whether you would want it again or not. So if you didn’t enjoy a meal for whatever reason you don’t have to have it again. You can give feedback as well if there was something about the meal you didn’t like or didn’t work for you. You can also see the meals coming up for the next week and you’re able to swap a meal with two other options (I’ve now do this with pasta meals).

Pan-fried tilapia with chorizo roasted potatoes

As you can see above, I sometimes add some more veggies (broccoli in this case) to some of the meals as I can’t help myself. Not because the meals aren’t filling (as Ben never needs anything more) but because I just love my veg!

Chicken Shawarma

All in all, we’re big fans. It makes life so much easier to just know what you’re going to have for three meals in the week. You know they’re going to be filling, nutritious and tasty. It’s definitely something we’re going to continue on.

There are several options of boxes to choose from at Hello Fresh: bigger family boxes, vegetarian ones and the classic one that we have. I think it’s a good value for money for quality, delicious food.

If you’re interested, you can use this code ZVUM4A to get £20 off your first two boxes too. It’s my own referral code (I would then get £12 off my own subscription – just so you’re aware).

11 thoughts on “Hello tasty food – Hello Fresh Review”

I absolutely love the idea of this although at £39 I’m not sure at the moment I would continue long term. But the whole idea behind it – using ethical products, learning new cooking techniques, picking up ideas for future meals and then even recycling bits at the end sounds fab.
I think so many people (me included) get stuck in a rut with ideas for meals. I turn to Pinterest every so often but usually those meals require small amounts of so many random ingredients that I just don’t have so I love that Hello Fresh provides absolutely everything required.
I’ve just had a quick look round their site. There is a refer a friend section. Might be worth putting your code in the blogpost? I don’t intend on signing up right now but definitely intend on giving it a go in the near future and I’ve only heard about the company through you, so would be nice for you to get something back from it!Mary recently posted…Ashridge Boundary trail race

Haha I love your makeshift rolling pin! I had heard about Hello Fresh before – back when I was working with Simply cook (similar, but just herb/spice blends and you buy the fresh ingredients) so was always interested in giving them a go. I think what they’re doing is a great thing – it’s a great alternative to bloody ready meals, and brings people back into cooking from scratch (without the effort of supermarket shopping) and encourages you to try new things. Might be something I experiment with soon!Cat recently posted…5 Foods That Make Me Angry

One of Andy’s brothers has it- but it seems so expensive, especially as we would get the vegetarian one so there would be no meat or fish- it was only a few pounds cheaper.
I think the idea of having new recipes is a good idea. I am so lucky that Andy likes cooking- every now and then he will look through our recipe books and choose something new to try. I am terrible if I am on my own- I have grand designs of having an amazing vegetarian meal, but then end up with beans on toast, or a baked sweet potato, as if he is out I tend to just keep working all evening.Maria @ runningcupcake recently posted…All about the cake

I do love the idea of these food boxes for the convenience. Hello Fresh sounds appealing especially because the meat is ethically reared which I think a lot of companies like these neglect.Jemma @ Celery and Cupcakes recently posted…On why full fat is better

Looks like a nice way to try out new recipes and techniques without all the hassle of picking out what you want to make and shopping for the ingredients. More washing up perhaps, but I’m sure more than made up for on the planning and shopping fronts.Mary @ Fit and Fed recently posted…Bumpy Road to Sectionals